The Cactus Cafe & Bar is one of Austin’s great acoustic music traditions. The Cactus is an intimate live music performance venue, and since the Cafe opened in February 1979, the Cactus has acquired a national reputation, showcasing the top local, regional, national and international acoustic music acts on the circuit today. Billboard magazine listed the Cactus as one of fifteen “solidly respected, savvy clubs” nationwide “from which careers can be cut, that work with proven names and new faces.”

Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Nanci Griffith and Ani DiFranco are among the singer-songwriters who frequently graced the Cactus stage early in their careers. Over the last twenty-five years many well-known artists performed at the Cactus Cafe, many to return time and time again. Cactus stage. Among them: Alison Krauss, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Monroe, Richard Thompson, Guy Clark, the Dixie Chicks, John Hiatt, Iris Dement, Ralph Stanley, Suzanne Vega, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and the list goes on…

The Cactus is an all ages non-smoking venue and has a full bar. Entrance is through Main West Mall Lobby. We are open M-F at 11am and Sat at 8pm. We close when the shows are over. All shows are Doors: 8pm Show: 8:30pm UNLESS NOTED. Please see each show listing for details.